Lost Cat
by crazysenpai
Summary: Hiei stumbles upon a village that had been attacked and he finds a baby hidden away. After six years pass, Hiei finally decides to abandon the child in a desolate village and to never return after raising it. Only Hiei does return after multiple years pass and the girl he has saved is now a woman. Then things start to slowly change after he finds out the woman is his mate.
1. Prologue: Red Rain

**Prologue: Red Rain**

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As usual, life in the demon realm was normal for the short statued demon known as Hiei. It was quiet, and he had fallen asleep in the highest branch of an old oak tree in the outskirts of The Forest Of Fools. As usual, the weather in the demon realm stayed the same for the most part, the skies red, and during the day few white clouds gave the sky character, unlike night where none could be spotted.

Sometimes they were lucky to have a change in the weather, and it would rain very little for a short period of time, and like now, the demon was awakened by a single raindrop hitting his forehead, soaking into his white bandana. His crimson eyes instantly opening feeling a change in the atmosphere.

He sits up more, waking up slowly from his little cat nap he was enjoying on what could be considered a 'sunny day.' He 'tsks' to himself grumbling inwardly "Rain..."

But unlike the rain in the human realm where rain was clear, the demon realms was red, like blood. Filling craters with red water that resembled blood. Sometimes yokai's didn't even know the difference if someone had just died or it had just rained...Sometimes even Hiei found himself wondering, though he was always quick to assume bloodshed unless witnessing the rain for himself.

However, it never rained for too long. The demon finds himself sliding out of the oak tree, his feet hitting the ground with ease, and delicacy. He starts walking away, his eyes searching for any nearby shelter he can take from the red rain.

As he walks deeper into the forest, the more his senses seem to feel something wrong, the smell of smoke waffling under his nose. He starts to frown slightly if he recalled there was a village he had passed by when looking for the perfect tree to slumber in peace without being interrupted by troublesome demons. The ones in this area, all mellow and behaved for the most part.

His feet carry further towards the smell of smoke in the distance, and the further he walks the more it starts to rain, and he gets caught in the storm he wanted to avoid at all costs. But his curiosity gets the better of him, and he no longer cares about the pesky rain.

Then once he gets closer to the village he had not known the name of, his eyes widen slightly, as the rain attempts at smothering the fire rising from so many homes. The red rain dripping down his exposed skin and clothing, making his skin to have a pinkish tint to it. Even from a distance, he was at, he could see multiple bodies lying on the ground and tell they had been slaughtered.

The people mostly elderly or middle-aged men and women. Luckily, he found no children, teenagers, or even young adults. He found this oddly strange, as when he passed by the village hours ago it was bustling with activity from yokais, known as Bakenekos or just nekos. Yokai with cat ears and traits.

Hiei disappears, and within a flash, he is at the entrance to the village, his eyes running over the bodies that have long since passed on to the nether realm. He walks into the village, the smell of rising smoke, blood, and guts filling his nostrils. It almost made him sick, but he was used to such smells and the sights of bloodshed since being a young boy. He sometimes even enjoyed it... when he was the one spilling the blood.

He pushes his hands into his pockets, and walks around the village and looks at all the dead bodies and blood stains he wasn't so sure that was blood or just the rain at this point in time...

His eyes and ears are alert for any signs of the attackers still in the village or lurking nearby. He doesn't feel the slight bit nervous, if they wanted to fight him, so be it. He was confident in his abilities, and gladly show them what he was capable of.

Though questions surface in his head, lines like,_ 'What would I do if I found a survivor.'_ Or thoughts like _'What was the purpose of the attack?' _Pestered him. He wanted to know what had happened in the once busy village located deep into the forest. He wanted to know what the attackers wanted, or what these people had done to be attacked.

He doesn't consider himself kind, and if he did find a survivor it wasn't his problem really, he would simply ask them what happened and once finding out he would simply leave. And then that's when he hears it, a loud cry, a whine calling out for its mother. His eyes widen slightly as his head turns in the direction of the loud wail.

'A baby...' He thinks, looking at the house with the broken down door. His feet carry him towards the sound, curiosity and might he even dare say slight concern weighing heavily on his heart...or what was considered of his not beating heart.

Before he knows it, he's standing in front of the broken down door and walks into the trashed home, the loud wail growing closer and piercing his sensitive ears but that doesn't stop him from following to where the cry is, or to where the thick blood trail went.

Then he stops in front of what once looked like a bedroom. A body lays limp on the ground and unmoving, the first time he has seen a dead person that was young while in the village. The young woman with white hair tied back in a loose ponytail is the cause of the blood trail as she suffered from what looked like a stomach wound until ultimately dying by her bedside.

The wailing continues, and Hiei walks towards the woman's body and kneels down to the ground, and there he sees it. Underneath the bed, in the far back, he sees movement underneath a pink baby blanket with a red handprint stained from the young woman's blood.

He stares blankly at what to do before his instincts react before his mind can. He reaches underneath the bed, taking out the baby, and he pulls down the pink baby blanket revealing two large gray eyes with endless tears, and on top of the baby's head are tufts of white hair and what looked cat ears but they are slightly drooped down. He's uncertain whether it was because the baby was unhappy or that was just perhaps what its ears had looked like.

Then the cries stop as the two large eyes stare at crimson one. Before he knows it, the child's mood instantly is swindled, and it starts to coo and smile as it squirms in his hands.

He stares some more, not knowing what to do with the child in his arms. He couldn't just leave it here...right? Or could he? He, after all, didn't care too much for anyone in particular, and he only cared for something when something was in it for him. He did nothing from the kindness of his heart.

He stands with the child still in his arms, and he goes to put it down somewhere before he gets reminded of when he was nothing but a babe, the memories always haunting him of the ice maiden throwing him over the cliff and being left for hours with no one around and being unable to move all that much.

His muscles tense, his jaw is set, and he suddenly pulls the pink blanket around the baby's head but leaves he or she's mouth and eyes unwrapped. He would have assumed the baby was a girl just by staring, but he could be so very wrong. A lot of the neko children were hard to tell the gender of. You couldn't really tell until its teenage years. Sometimes the men looking like women, and vice versa.

He pulls the child that has stopped crying to his chest, and he walks out of the home, giving one last glance to the woman who lies lifelessly on the ground.

For now, he has done a good deed, but he didn't know the first thing about caring for the child or why he was now carrying it out from within the house. Perhaps it was best if he found a village or somewhere nearby with a woman to deposit the child in the arms of, then it wouldn't be his problem, but these were yokai women he was dealing with.

Some women in the demon realm would love to get their hands on a baby to eat, it would be a delicacy. So for now, he holds onto the child, uncertain of his actions and what was to come next. All he knew was, he was in for some trouble with the child constantly shifting in his arms. But first was shelter out of this godforsaken red rain.

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**Authors note:** Well, this if my first Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfiction. I just started watching the anime last month and finished the anime this month. I know I'm late to the fandom party, but I had thought of this fanfiction idea when watching Hiei's backstory episode. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave a review or follow or favorite if you did!


	2. Chapter One: Past & Present

**Quick A/N:** Please note only the first two chapters (This chapter and prologue) are written in third pov for storytelling purposes. I plan on changing POV soon, most likely to first person in the next chapter.

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**Chapter One: Past & Present**

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Six years have passed, and he stares down at the child, who he had found at the village that was attacked. He sees two white ears that are droopy and always lowered flicking, and constantly whenever he spoke much to his annoyance. Though right now he was more than just annoyed especially with those unwavering gray eyes that meet the stare of his crimson eyes without freight or any normal emotions associated with looking at him. His glare hardens when she goes to open her mouth to whine but is cut off by Hiei, himself.

"No." he merely states, and she fidgets.

"But-" she begins pushing behind white strands of hair behind her ear.

"No." he cuts off again, his eyes narrowing more at the small girl.

She frowns, and her lips purse and Hiei turns his back on the girl and starts walking away. As much as Hiei hated being in the position he was in, he found it to be relieving as he walked away, leaving the small girl alone. He wasn't abandoning her completely to fend for herself, she was in the hands of an old woman who he could trust.

An old woman who Kurama trusted meant, he could also trust her. It took all this time to find someone trustworthy to deposit her in the arms too, but today was the day where he could finally have a break. The demon child was a nuisance and hindered him day after day. Whether it was biting, scratching, or simply trying to play with him, he would never have it.

Every time she bit he flick her nose harshly, every time she scratched he clip her nails which supposedly hurt Neko children, and every time she tried playing with him he stand there and say nothing to her until she got the hint he wasn't going to move.

"Please don't leave! I will behave I promise! Don't leave!" She whines, and she goes running towards the man that had taken care of her for six years, as much as he was unsocial and mean to her, he and the people she had met who also taken care of her were the only ones she known.

But before she can get very far, he disappears within a flash. His speed nothing she could follow with her youthful eyes. Tears escaped her eyes, streaming down her face as the short man leaves her. She didn't know her relationship with him, and she for sure knew the fire demon wasn't her father, but she still had a bond with him.

A bond that she still felt even after he left her. She collapses to her knees, the dirt making her white dress dirty and the old woman walks towards the small girl, her cane hitting the ground.

"Don't worry child. I'm sure he will be back for visits. Nothing is permanent." the old woman says in a raspy voice as she places her hand on the little girls head, before rubbing the girl's ears much like a pet cat rather than a yokai.

The little girl on the ground stares up at the old woman with gray hair tied up in a bun. This is the first time she was shown true affection, besides her seldom visits with Kurama who pat her head in the same fashion, or with the others.

She often enjoyed when Kurama pet her that way, the redhead had always seemed to be charming as he slipped his fingers through her hair, and telling her how pretty she was going to be when she grew up to which only her caretaker known as Hiei scoffed at while in one of his trees. Her visits with Kurama often was the star of her day.

He didn't play with her, but he at least smiled and gave her lots of flowers. He even once let her see what he looked like as a yokai. He was so beautiful, the most beautiful being she had ever seen. He also lets her examine him, allowing her to touch his ears, tail, and hair. His hair was so smooth and silky. He must have taken care of it.

Would Kurama also visit her….? Would she ever see the charming fox yokai again? She also recalled visits with a man named Kurabara who indeed actually played with her but goofily. He always made her laugh, but her time in the human realm was always short since Hiei never stayed for too long and when he did, he'd drop her off a Kuwabara's home or Yusuke's and Kekos who was a married couple who fought all the time.

Would they also visit her at all…? They had to, right? She would get lonely without being visited by any of them.

"You think?" she asks quickly attempting at stopping the tears from falling from her eyes with her finger.

"Yes. Now let's go back to the village so we can show you your room."

"I get my own room?!" the girl asks standing up excitedly. Never once had she ever had a room. Hiei was always on foot and traveling. He either sleep up in the trees or sometimes rarely on the ground in a grassy plain. But he stopped sleeping in the grass when she had bugged him so oftenly, and he go purposely up high just to spite her, as he looked down at her with this cold crimson eyes, and his arms folded over his chest.

She would always attempt at climbing up the tree to get to him, so she would be able to nap with the ever so warm fire demon, Nekos, after all, being social and affectionate creatures. She'd use her claws on the bark of the tree, but she fall on her ass only making the fire demon smirk slightly and huff under his breath, then she gives up and sleep under the tree he was sleeping in.

The only thing Hiei did that was ever considered kind was to feed her and protect her from other yokai. Oftenly giving her fish that he caught in the river for her, but she noticed how the fish were crispy leading her to believe he used his powers to kill a batch of fish in the river.

But then he make fun of her, so he wasn't so kind, he always without fail push his finger into her belly, telling her she was the most round child he had ever seen, and that her visits with Kurama led her to be round because of how much he spoiled her with sweets and other foods that she didn't need. Then afterward, he smirks to himself snottily. It only made herself self-conscience since, after all, she wasn't exactly a skinny child.

She had a round tummy on her, and her cheeks were chubby, but when she whined to Kurama about it, he only told her it would go away when she was older and that most Neko children were chubby, some far chubbier than her. But she wouldn't know since she had never been around a Neko child like herself. Perhaps only Kurama told her this to make her feel better.

"Yes" the old woman assures her about her own room, and she offers her hand out to the child which she gladly takes and leads her back the desolate village with very few people. But the girl can't help but shake the feeling of loneliness, and the chance Hiei or the others might never return to visit her.

As Hiei leaves farther away from the village he had dropped her off in, he stuffs his hands in his pocket and walks more forward. He recalls the memories and the change in his lifestyle; he was forced into while taking care of her. The troublesome child always found trouble and walked away into forests and other places while he was distracted leading for him to have to kill multiple yokai in the last six years.

He also recalls the many times he nearly killed her when she was a baby as he slept in high places. He always used to take the child with him, and sometimes as he went into a deep sleep, she would crawl off him and almost fell from the high branch. The only thing that saved her was her tail that he had grabbed in the nick of time. He was surprised her tail hadn't fallen off from how many time he had yanked on it and pulled it when she was bad if not from trying to save her.

But as Hiei walks farther away from the place he had dropped her off, he thinks about his current goals. His first goal was to win the demon tournament to become the next king to rule over the demon realm, but to do so, he needed to train. But training was futile while trying to chase around a scampering brat.

Though he can't help but shake the feeling of being bothered by leaving the brat by herself, but she was with the old woman, a once-skilled demoness who could take on many forms as she pleased. The only thing wrong with her, she was kind and wouldn't eat humans so, therefore, she aged and could die anywhere from the next 10 to 50 years.

She was foolish and stupid in that case. Hiei wasn't shy about eating humans, neither was Mukuro. He preferred eating human males, but every once in a while he would eat the delicate flesh of a woman. But that was on special occasions, since after all human women were a delicacy.

By then, he was sure the brat could fend for herself, if not she was weak, and was meant to die. Now would she survive...or would she die? That was up to her, and he would never know, as he never planned on visiting her anytime soon as this was their last goodbye...or so he had thought.

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…

Days passed, and when days passed, so did weeks and shortly after, weeks turned into months. The girl would wait at the entrance of the village, where she last saw Hiei and would sit alone no matter the weather, she didn't want to waste a single precious moment in which he might return to her.

The old woman in the village would often sit by her or one of the other adults in the village in worry and trying to coax her to come inside, but she never left her spot under the same oak tree, and she would sit in silence staring at the crimson skies.

Eventually, after so much time had passed, she had realized no one was coming to visit her. Not Hiei, not Kurama, not Kuwabara, not Yusuke. She was alone, and on the warm spring day making the winter lands thaw she finally got up from that spot and returned to the desolate village.

There she learned from the old woman to do many things. Whether it was sewing, gardening, or cooking or how to build. It wasn't much like yokai stuff, but the demons in the village were misfits, they wanted to live like humans and absolutely loved humans. Their dreams were to make their village bigger, so perhaps more people would share their views, and eventually, demons eating humans would come to an end.

But oftenly or not, when someone journeyed away from the village to try and get other demons to come back to the village that person would die. So the village people became afraid and decided not to share their opinions so openly, in fear someone would find their village and kill them all.

Then there was a special day when the old woman found out the little girl was, in fact, nameless, the entire village decided on a name for her, Cotton. It might have been an odd name, but the villagers said humans loved cotton, and it was a fitting name for her because of her hair, and personality.

The little girl was secretly happy and grew close to each of the villagers despite her saying she disliked her name, she, in fact, loved it. She loved having her own name, and she owned up to it, and slowly she began to forget about the man named Hiei and the others.

Years passed, marking the cat girl's 19th birthday. 13 years have passed in total, and she grew a whole lot, 4'12" being her current height, but she wasn't done growing; usually, demon children took a long time to grow up. The old woman had also told her this and that she still had many years before she would stop growing.

Though she might have grown up fast, she felt great. She no longer felt like a little girl but a woman. Her face was mature, she lost all her baby fat, and her body was steadily getting curves, and her breasts were growing plumper.

The girl now a woman, smiled at the villagers, bowing to them in a white kimono matching her hair with a charming flower hair piece. The hairpiece was a gift, given to her by one of the men in the village as an attempt to court her to be his mate but, in the end, she told him she wanted to journey before settling down with anyone.

She looks at them after bowing, her gray eyes taking on a naturally sleepy appearance along with her droopy ears. Her long white hair is braided in a single braid down her back, and long bangs are tucked behind her human-like ears.

"Thank you all for taking care of me. These few years have been the best time in my life, but I'm afraid it is time for me to see more of the demon realm," she says in a mellow and feminine voice.

She notices a lot of them have tears in their eyes, sniffing, and wiping their nose and eyes on the sleeve to there kimonos and shirts. Her eyes hon in on the old woman who has taken care of her the most. She stands, leaning on her cane, her face is neutral before she smiles slightly at the young woman, "Be careful on your journey Cotton, many demons aren't like us and would love to harm someone such as yourself... You're different."

The woman stands from her bowing position, and she straightens her back before muttering "I understand. I will be careful." There, she turns her back, waving and smiling happily to the still crying villagers, and she starts her long journey of adventuring the demon realm. Though what she didn't know, she would have a run in with her fated one, her mate, and also her once caretaker, Hiei.

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…

Finally, after all these long years Hiei smirks triumphantly as he stands tall and proud in front of the large crowd of demons. He was no longer what you would call a 'shortie' all that much, but average height, growing taller in the last ten years or so. At least taller that than the foxy woman announcing his 'winning' at the tournament and also the past king who stands behind him with his wife.

Hiei found himself blocking out the words that announcement lady had to say, uncaring of the rules he heard what felt like not too long ago. They were still fresh, but now he could make his own rules once becoming demon king. He never thought this day would come, but it looks as if that harsh training and the sparring sessions with Yusuke he put himself thru this summer paid off well.

Yusuke was strong, he had Raizens blood after all. You think he would be interested in becoming king, but Yusuke loved his human woman back in the human realm. There was also the fact Yusuke had a thirst for a journey to go places in the demon realm not even Hiei had journeyed to yet. Though Hiei much rather would become king of the demon realm instead of looking at trees, rocks, or dirt where you could find anywhere. Why journey somewhere else?

When he thinks the announcements are done, he stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks down towards the orange haired girl before he asks coldly "Are you done?"

The girl shivers as she holds the microphone and she says "Yes but there is one more thing we need to discuss in order for you to become king."

"What is it?" he asks confused, raising a skeptical brow and that's when the red-skinned man who was crowned king what felt like ages ago, and wouldn't give up his spot in the throne takes the microphone from the lady's hand.

He smiles sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, and Hiei frowns, not liking where this was leading. "Well I made a rule in order for someone to become king, they have to have a partner since partners make you a better person." He glances at his green haired wife who is guzzling sake from a gourd around her wrist.

"Partner?" asks Hiei snottily, thinking of Kurama and how he might have to force him to become his 'partner.'

"Yes" he states, and then he asks "So do you have any girlfriends or some cozy lovebird you would like to become your wife? Or perhaps maybe you do already have a wife? If so, that would be most excellent."

Hiei pales, and a look of shock overtakes his face before he starts to get angry, and he hisses out "I don't have any of those. What is this bullshit!"

The red skinned man still continues to smile sheepishly, and he hums "Well sorry. I can't give you title as king unless you have someone you plan on marrying. But I will be more than happy to hold your spot for ya until you find a wifey."

For once Hiei is at a loss of words, words don't roll off his tongue like he wants and the red-skinned man walks away with his wife after giving the microphone back to the announcement girl. The girl also blinks confused as the current king walks off the stage and Hiei stands there thinking.

'A wife?' Hiei thinks before he keeps repeating it in his head 'a WIFE?'

Why on earth does he need a stupid wife to become king?! He fought his way up to get his title as 'king.' Why would someone ever make such a stupid and dumb rule!? Hiei grinds his teeth together before jumping off the stage and walking away in an angry huff.

He would find a stupid wife, he has a few candidates in mind who he can just use to get the title of king, but he has to travel. Traveling is where he would find his wife and this way he can please that stupid man and then he can even kill him after because of how much he had angered him.

As he walks away into the distance, the crowd is a little stunned and so is the announcer who quickly ends things so she can go home, and with that, fate was already making its course, attempting at tieing a red string between two fingers, one who keeps breaking the string.

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**Authors Note:** After watching the Yu Yu Hakusho Ova, I so badly want a remake of the series. God, they did such a beautiful job with the characters in newer animation I also got this idea when watching the ova, where it mentions Hiei keeps retrying at the tournament. Hahaha, anyway thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows so far! Much appreciated! :)


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